Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 233: Big Win

But when Mariella and Chandler kept buying gemstones like this, it could easily make people think the disasters were about to end—and that gemstone prices were going to rise again.

The middle-aged butler had his doubts, but he still put on a polite smile and stepped forward to greet them. "Ms. Townsend, Mr. Zimmer, we meet again so soon."

Two deals in one day, and both times they brought high-demand supplies. It really looked like they loved buying gemstones.

Mariella smiled lightly and got straight to the point. "Please come aboard and inspect the goods. Rice and pasta at one-to-one. Beans and mixed grains at one-to-one-point-five. Cooking oil at one-to-three-point-five."

The butler had the guards set up a gangplank, then he was the first to board the wooden boat.

"The beans and grains are fine," he said, glancing around. "But less than a third of this cooking oil is peanut oil. Most of it is corn oil and canola oil." He sounded a bit unhappy.

Mariella blinked and reminded him, "Peanut oil trades at five to one compared to rice and pasta. I'm only asking 3.5. I already left you room."

The butler realized right away—Mariella was sharp.

She wasn't petty, but she wasn't careless either. She had already calculated everything clearly before coming.

He smiled again. "Everything is negotiable. For Mr. Mack's sake, this is fine."

He waved his hand, signaling the workers to start loading.

A light truck was first weighed on the scale, then drove up the gangplank onto the boat.

Six workers followed and began loading.

They started with the rice and pasta. It took about ten minutes to finish.

The truck drove back onto the scale. After subtracting its own weight, the net came out to 24,390 pounds.

"Record it as 24,500 pounds," the butler said generously.

Rounding up like that showed real confidence.

Mariella was satisfied. Now she understood why those gemstone merchants trusted him so much and handed over such big deals to him.

He really knew how to handle people.

After unloading the rice and pasta, the truck returned to the boat.

The workers then loaded the beans and mixed grains.

Back on the scale, the net weight showed 5,047 pounds.

"Record it as 5,050 pounds," the butler said again, still rounding up.

Finally, the truck loaded all the cooking oil and returned to the scale.

The net weight came out to 2,959 pounds.

"Record it as 3,000 pounds."

Denton grinned at Mariella. "Wayne, you're really generous."

Mariella played along. "Of course. Anyone Denton knows must be a good person."

Wayne clearly enjoyed the praise. A smile spread across his face.

He quickly calculated the total. "24,500 pounds of rice and pasta at one-to-one. 5,050 pounds of beans and grains at one-to-one-point-five—that's 7,575 pounds of gemstones. And 3,000 pounds of cooking oil at one-to-three-point-five—that's 10,500 pounds of gemstones... Total comes to 42,575 pounds of gemstones."

Another 40,000 pounds of gemstones.

Mariella felt a rush of excitement.

Wayne immediately ordered the workers to load the gemstones onto the truck. After weighing, the net came out to 42,700 pounds, giving her over 100 extra pounds again.

Mariella was very satisfied. She didn't haggle much at all.

For her, saving time on deals like this was already a big win.

After the loading was done, Wayne looked even more excited than she did. "Ms. Townsend, if you want to trade again, contact us anytime. We don't take days off!"

This time, what they got was real food and oil.

Compared to boats that were hard to sell and easy to lose value, this deal was a true profit.

Mariella quickly calculated in her head. After these two trades, she now had 90,000 pounds of gemstones, with more than 230,000 pounds still waiting to be traded.

Just thinking about what those gemstones could turn into—more static zone, richer farmland, a larger wetland—made her thrilled.

She had a strong feeling that once the full 156 tons of gemstones were absorbed, her storage space would upgrade again and bring surprises she couldn't even imagine.

The wooden boat, now carrying over 40,000 pounds of gemstones, left the warehouse and headed toward Celestine Ridge.

By now, it was already dark.

Mariella checked her phone and replied to Matthew. "I'm out gathering supplies. I might not be back until tomorrow night. Watch the house, keep the records, and take care of Serena and Lucky."

Matthew replied. "You're all out there searching for supplies while Serena and I stay home. I feel kind of bad. Honestly, being with the team doesn't seem that dangerous."

It sounded like he wanted to go out with the others. Mariella refused right away. "The guns and ammo I gave you are for self-defense, not fighting. You're the private doctor and accountant for Villa No. 98. You're the most valuable person here. We can't afford to have anything happen to you."